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Boys basketball roundup: Knights end regular season with defeat
Published 10:48pm Saturday, March 6, 2010WHEATON — The West Central Area boys basketball team was playing from behind nearly the entire night and simply couldn’t catch Wheaton in a 57-48 non-conference defeat on the road,
The Knights trailed 30-27 at the break and came within two points with 40 seconds remaining, but according to coach Kraig Hunter, “couldn’t convert several lay-ups and free throw opportunities down the stretch.”
The Warriors, meanwhile, cashed in from the line in the final 30 seconds to salt away the victory.
Sam Richards scored 16 points to lead West Central, which finished with 20 turnovers and shot 40 percent overall, but 33 percent from the line and 11 percent from deep.
The loss puts the Knights at 14-10 to end the regular season. They will play Minnewaska Area in the Section 6-2A Tournament Thursday.
Rothsay 53,
Waubun 52
WAUBUN — It took 22 games, but the Tigers finally broke through in the win column.
“The boys played so hard and they knew that over the past two-three weeks, they’ve been steadily playing much better basketball,” stated coach Darren Rogness via e-mail.
As usual, 6-foot-4 forward Cody Hanneman led the charge for Rothsay (1-22), scoring 31 points on 15 of 21 shooting.
“Cody has carried this team all season, and tonight was no different,” Rogness said. “He played an excellent game at both ends of the floor.”
Hanneman — who has averaged 24 points per game in his last seven contests — also finished with seven rebounds and four steals, but left several points at the line, ending 1-for-11 from the stripe.
After Nick Fiedler canned a 3-pointer to bring the Tigers within one with less than a minute to go. Brett Brendon gave Rothsay its first lead since 2-0 with a steal and lay-up to make it 53-51 with less than 10 seconds left.
The Tigers thwarted Waubun’s final attempt to win the game on the final possession.
Fiedler finished with 10 points and handed out four assists.
As team, the Tigers shrugged off a woeful performance from the stripe (3-for-15) and shot 49 percent from the field overall.
St. Cloud Tech 94,
Fergus Falls 59
ST. CLOUD — The Otters went cold in the second half and ended the regular season with a Central Lakes Conference loss to the league champion Tigers (16-2, 22-4).
Fergus Falls (1-17, 3-20) registered 39 points in the first half, 17 of which came from Spencer Kidder.
The Otters, however, scored just 20 points in the final 20 minutes and Kidder was held without a field goal and just one point.
Fergus will opens the Section 8-3A tournament at Rocori on Tuesday night at 7 p.m.
The Tigers connected from 13 three-pointers and were led in scoring by Alex Hanks’ 20 points. Scott Nystrom added 16 and Kellan Euerle 11.
Wadena-DC 69,
Pelican Rapids 60
PELICAN RAPIDS — The Vikings turned the ball over 24 times and ended the regular season with a non-conference loss.
Casey Bruggeman led Pelican with 17 points and Ryan Huseby added 14.
The fifth-seeded Vikings open the Section 8-2A postseason at No. 4 Pequot Lakes Thursday.
Scott Syverson did not miss a free throw and ended with a game-high 23 points. Teammate Jordan Reed added 20.
